Monday, August 29, 2016

Nick Saban says "we're sort of down to two guys," Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett. "That's the way it's gonna be right now."

Don't understand this one, but Nick is the man and he knows what he is doing?. Jalen Hurts had America believing he would be in the top two, by simply outplaying the competition. Nick however, did say he would probably play Hurts later in the year.Maybe its a seniority thing. However, we can not afford to play players based off time served. This is scary, as we might see a lot of unnecessary mistakes against USC that could have been avoided. Confusing? Yes.

247sports reports:TUSCALOOSA -- Alabama head coach Nick Saban
revealed which two quarterbacks he plans to send onto the field against
USC in the Crimson Tide's season-opening game on Saturday, Sept. 3, in
Arlington, Texas.
"We're sort of down to two guys here," Saban said. "Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett
are probably the two guys that we're getting ready to play in this
game, and that's the way it's gonna be for right now. We're gonna try to
continue to develop all of our guys, and we make this choice with
what's gonna give us the best chance to win this game but it's also
about future development of our players. And we're gonna play the guy
that's the most ready to give us the best chance, but we also want to
continue to develop guys that can compete at this position in the
future. That's kind of where it is right now. There's really nothing
else to talk about."Bateman will likely make his second
career start for Alabama, having started against Ole Miss in the team’s
third game of the season a year ago before ultimately losing the
quarterback competition to the eventual full-time starter, Jake Coker.
The Utah native’s career passing numbers are 37-of-52 passing for 291
yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.A former four-star recruit, Bateman
was the No. 1 player in the state of Utah, No. 4 pro-style quarterback
and No. 80 overall prospect in the 2013 recruiting cycle, according to
the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rankings.
"Cooper has a great knowledge of the offense," Saban said. "Really
manages things well when he's out there because of his knowledge and
experience. I think he's continued to improve his passing ability and we
have a lot of confidence in him. We feel good about the progress he's
made.
"I don't think any of us are satisfied with any part of our team
right now in terms of trying to continue to improve and develop and
certainly quarterback's not any different. And the quarterbacks
themselves probably would tell you the same thing."
Barnett has been the forgotten runner in the signal caller race, but
Saban reminded everyone the former elite prospect is still on the roster
and will likely see the field against his hometown team in USC on
Saturday.
A former five-star recruit, Barnett was the No. 2 pro-style
quarterback, No. 5 player in California and No. 21 over prospect in the
2015 recruiting cycle, according to the industry-generated 247Sports
Composite rankings."I think that in Blake's case, he's been here for a little
longer, a year-and-a-half, so he has a little bit of knowledge of the
offense," Saban said. "And he's more confident, I think, in what he's
doing. He's gotten bigger and stronger and he's throwing the ball
effectively. One of the strengths on our team, I feel, is the receivers,
and we want to continue to try to have an offense that can create
explosive plays through those guys.
"Blake has really been an effective passer for us, so we want to
continue to try and develop him and see where his knowledge and
experience will take him relative to whether we feel like he can be a
winning player at that position or not."
There was a lot of buzz surrounding true freshman Jalen Hurts
in the team's practices prior to game week, but the first-year
quarterback will have to wait behind the other two, healthy scholarship
quarterbacks.A former four-star recruit, Hurts was
the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback, No. 25 player in the state of Texas
and No. 177 overall prospect in the 2016 recruiting cycle, according to
the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rankings."Jalen's got a tremendous future," Saban said. "I think he's
got great ability. But I think that what you have to be really concerned
about is, is a guy ready to go out there and not just do things that he
can do, but can he run the offensive team? If the back's lined up on
the wrong side, is he going to put him on the right side? Is he going to
be to point out the protection right so we pick up the blitz? These
things are things that we want to be able to continue to develop in the
players so that when they go out on the field, they can have success."Jalen Hurts has tremendous ability. We are not giving up on
that ability and hopefully we'll be able to develop it that at some
point this season he's going to be a productive player for us."http://alabama.247sports.com/Bolt/Nick-Saban-Alabamas-QB-race-is-down-to-two-players-47035313